Celebrate World Smile Day with LTD
Lane Transit District (LTD) is inviting the community to join them in celebrating World Smile Day on Friday, October 4, 2024.
“On World Smile Day, let’s be intentional with our smiles. It’s easy to forget the expression we wear may really lift someone’s spirits,” said Cammie Harris, LTD’s Marketing Supervisor. “There are few things that say ‘thank you’ or simply acknowledge another person more than a smile.”
The benefits of smiling have been noted in numerous research articles:
- Smiling elevates mood and creates a sense of well-being.
- Even a forced smile can lead to a mood boost.
- Smiling makes people seem courteous and competent.
- Smiling induces more pleasure in the brain than chocolate.
- Smiling is contagious.
“I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite,” said Buddy the Elf, a non-rider but serious fan of smiling.
Smiley face buttons will be available from LTD’s bus operators and customer service representatives at the Eugene and Springfield stations on Friday. There will also be “compliment cards” available for riders in both English and Spanish from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Harvey Ball, a Massachusetts graphic designer, created the smiley face in 1963 and organized the first World Smile Day in 1999. After his death in 2001, the Harvey Ball World Smile Day Foundation was established to honor him through an annual sponsorship of World Smile Day®.